Army Vows to Continue Fight in Delta

Nigeria's army said on Monday it would continue to fight criminal gangs in the oil-producing Niger Delta, underlining the fragility of a ceasefire declared by the region's main militant group.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) declared a temporary ceasefire on Sunday after a week of attacks on oil platforms, pipelines, flow stations and gas plants in the heartland of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

The six days of violence cut Nigeria's oil output by at least 150,000 barrels per day and forced Royal Dutch Shell to warn it may not be able to meet contractual obligations on shipments of crude from the country.

The army welcomed the ceasefire announcement but said that its strategy of fighting a network of criminal gangs involved in crude oil theft and kidnappings for ransom in the Niger Delta remained unchanged.

"We are not at war, so the issue of a ceasefire does not arise," said Brigadier-General Mohammed Yusuf, spokesman for Nigeria's defence headquarters.

"If the restive youths are actually ready to lay down their arms, then we will change our tactics. If there is no crime, then we will change our tactics. All we want is peace for the development of the area," he said.

Security experts say a loose coalition of various armed groups operate under the MEND franchise in the anarchic delta, where foreign oil firms including Shell, Chevron, Total and Agip have interests.

MEND launched what it described as an "oil war" in the delta, a vast network of mangrove creeks in southern Nigeria, just over a week ago in response to what it said were unprovoked air and sea attacks by the security forces on one of its bases.

It warned in Sunday's ceasefire declaration, announced after a plea by elders, that it would resume its campaign of sabotage against the oil industry if it came under attack again.
Ateke Tom, one militia leader whose group claimed attacks on at least two oil flow stations during last week's strikes, warned that the ceasefire could be lifted at any time.

"This will depend on the military and the government," he told Reuters by telephone from the creeks.

Successive Nigerian leaders have pledged to pacify the Niger Delta, where resentment against the oil industry runs high among impoverished villagers but where criminal gangs also grow rich from a trade in stolen crude and kidnappings for ransom.

President Umaru Yar'Adua this month created a Ministry for the Niger Delta meant to address the instability by developing the region and "empowering" its frustrated youths.

Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the delta, set up a new panel to look at how to bring about lasting peace, but it is charged with reviewing all previous reports on the problem since 1958 and has been dismissed by the militants as the latest in a string of endless committees and proposals.

(Reuters)